However, state law allow employers to pay newly hired workers between 16 and 19 years old an hourly rate of $4.25 during their first 90 days of employment. The Workforce Opportunity Wage Act also allows Michigan employers to pay 85 percent of the minimum wage rate to 16 and 17-year-old employees, as long as the wage is still higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

An estimated 101,000 Michigan workers were at or below minimum wage last year, according to the United States Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.